There’s an adage around Piedmont that people move to town for the schools and stay for the community. I’d say that adage is true for our family. I’d say, too, the Piedmont Education Foundation is grounded in, and contributes to, both: It’s definitely about education and community.
All the volunteer efforts that go on at each of our school sites are truly essential to supporting the educational experience. Parents get tapped for myriad volunteer roles as their kids progress through the schools and we do it, when we can, because we want to help out, see our kids in action, and get to know their friends, teachers, and other families. If it works out well, we end up creating community and building friendships that can last long after the kids grow up.
That’s what happened to us as both our boys went through schools here. My first volunteer role was to take photos of events at Beach, get the film developed, paste the photos onto poster board, and place them in the hallways. Very old school. That was a first step on a volunteer journey that lasted for about 20 years and I found it to be fun and engaging and fulfilling.
About halfway into my volunteer time, I got to join the PEF board. That shifted my more parochial, site-specific perspective to a much broader one, where I could see how all the parts worked and how the district operated. It was eye-opening. I got to work with board members who were parents of students from across the sites and with community members who may or may not have had children go through the schools, all of whom shared their skills, know-how, insight, and energy. In my tenure, we dealt with issues that ranged from the tactical to the strategic. I loved collective problem solving with the board and staff, and having a holistic, bird’s eye view of our learning community. It’s been an honor to be part of PEF history.
Most know that fundraising is a big, big part of what PEF does. That is absolutely critical to how our district functions. But PEF has another critical role: It is like the hub of a wheel in that it connects and coordinates all the moving parts, and provides support, resources, and rigor to all the organizations that support our schools.
Let’s recognize what PEF contributes to our town and let’s celebrate its first 50 years: the vision of its founders, the decades of volunteer effort, the sophistication of the front office, the sharing of our model with other districts, the growth of the endowment, the dollars to support excellence in our schools. PEF’s successes have been built on collective community effort and everyone in Piedmont can keep that success going into the future. We do it for the kids and we do it for the community it creates.
Congratulations, PEF, for what you’ve done and here’s to another 50 years! Cheers!